Fulfilling the Great Commission in the Twenty-First Century: Essays on Reviva, Evangelism, and Discipleship in Honor of Dr. Robert E. Coleman

Coppedge

INTRODUCTION

Lyle W. Dorsett and Ajith Fernando

At a recent national meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society in San Francisco, Dr. Robert E. Coleman read a paper titled Evangelism: The Heartbeat of Theology in Seminary. Although his presentation was scheduled on the last day of the convention, and despite the fact that the folks in charge of planning exiled him to a conference room at a hotel some distance from the headquarters hotel, the room was packed with scores of former students, colleagues, and other admirers of this humble and generous man who has written more than two dozen books on evangelism and discipleship. Robert E. Coleman, Clem to many people who know him well, has been training men and women in seminary classes since he began teaching in the 1950s.

An able scholar who holds graduate degrees from Princeton Theological Seminary, Asbury Theological Seminary, and the University of Iowa, Dr. Coleman has enjoyed a rich and long career. He has served on the faculties of Asbury Theological Seminary (Kentucky), Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (Illinois), Wheaton College Graduate School (Illinois), and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (Massachusetts). Born in 1928, this energetic servant of the Lord is a household name among people who are seriously involved in sharing the gospel and making disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ. His book The Master Plan of Evangelism is a classic by any definition of the word. Nearly two and a half million copies have been printed in several dozen languages since it was first published a half century ago. Other books by Coleman such as The Mind of the Master, The Master Plan of Discipleship, and Singing with the Angels are required reading in many seminaries, divinity schools, and church classes. His most recent volume, The Heart of the Gospel: The Theology Behind the Master Plan of Evangelism, has been enthusiastically acclaimed by theologians, evangelists, pastors, and lay leaders. Dr. Coleman is distinguished senior professor of evangelism and discipleship at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. Formerly dean of the Billy Graham International Schools of Evangelism, this widely admired author, preacher, teacher, and former pastor is in constant demand as a speaker on four continents. His former students and others whom he has mentored serve the Lord Jesus Christ all over the world. In brief, few scholars and teachers are more deserving of a volume celebrating a professional career than this anointed, energetic, and highly engaging man.

To be sure this Festschrift, or celebration of writing, is intended to honor Dr. Coleman. But folks who know Clem will agree that such a celebratory book would distress him unless it ultimately pointed to the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, this work is presented at once as a salute to a beloved mentor, teacher, and friend, and also as a call for revival and rededication to Christ’s call on His church to fulfill the Great Commission.

Dr. Coleman has always insisted that the Great Commission in Matthew 28 is not merely a call to make converts, rather it is a command to make disciples of Jesus Christ who will be encouraged to grow in their knowledge of Him and reproduce their kind throughout the world. The editors and contributors are quite aware that North American and western European churches are no longer strongly committed to this glorious enterprise. Indeed, today Christianity is not the dominant faith in the western world. On the contrary, secularism and pagan religions are growing at a faster rate than Christianity. Furthermore, Asian, African, and Latin nations have surpassed Canada, the United States, and Europe as leaders in world missions.

The essays in this anthology are designed to challenge western Christians to recognize again that we have a Great Commission, not a Great Suggestion. Toward this end it is important to get first things first. In chapter 1, Walter Kaiser provides a splendid piece of biblical exegesis that shows how the ancient Jewish people continually rebelled against God, and how He eventually punished them through their enemies in order that they would see their wicked ways, repent, and cry out to Him for mercy. Dr. Kaiser artfully applies this text to the United States today, showing how this nation has suffered a series of catastrophic attacks beginning with December 7, 1941, and proceeding to September 11, 2001, and beyond. His challenge is for people to learn from the history of God’s judgments on the Hebrew people of old—before our national disasters become even greater.

In chapter 2, Professor Erik Thoennes, like Walter Kaiser, calls us to wake up and hear the clarion call from Scripture and history that the people God uses as spiritual leaders must at once manifest a hatred of idols and jealously seek the glory of God alone. This refreshing chapter challenges the reader to understand that although Christians are to abhor sinful jealously, we should by all means embrace godly jealously—being jealous for God’s glory with a concomitant hatred of idols. Dr. Thoennes points out that Scripture reveals that God said I, the LORD your God am a jealous God, (Exod. 20:5). The author then helps us understand the significance of this truth that must be embraced if we are to be renewed people. In chapter 3, Timothy Beougher sounds a prophetic call that complements the chapters by Kaiser and Thoennes. Dr. Beougher unflinchingly argues that our witness will be only as strong and effective as the Christian character of the witnesses. Indeed, only truly transformed people—those who are helped from the time of their new birth to grow up in Christ—can glorify God and successfully fulfill the Great Commission.

In the wake of the three chapters calling for national and personal repentance and revival, this book moves to four chapters, each presenting insights on how to reach souls in fertile harvest fields. In chapter 4, Mary Dorsett, who has much experience in working with hurting women, draws upon the Gospels to show that Jesus was as committed to reaching and encouraging women as He was to men. Her compelling thesis is that Jesus worked with each woman He encountered in a unique way. But in each case He sought to increase their faith. This chapter is replete with applications for reaching women today.

Ajith Fernando wrote chapter 5 and he knows from experience that some of the ripest harvest fields all over the world are among the urban poor. Dr. Fernando has been evangelizing and making disciples in Sri Lanka for many years. His methods have worked well in Sri Lanka and this chapter is rich with possibilities for cross-cultural ministry in the increasingly diverse nations of North America and Europe.

Lyle W. Dorsett is convinced that one of the most fruitful and neglected mission fields is among the men and women serving in the armed forces of the United States. In chapter 6, Dorsett points out that suicide rates are dreadfully high and rising among the nation’s civilian and military populations, while leaders are seeking to understand causes and find cures. The author presents overlooked biblical and historical prescriptions to help us rescue and heal the souls of our military personnel.

Chapter 7 is written by Stephen W. Rankin, who focuses on emerging adults, the population group of 15- to 29-year-olds. Chaplain at Southern Methodist University, Rankin focuses primarily on college people but he also offers ways to reach and disciple young men and women of this age group. Dr. Rankin points out that about 23 million young men and women, including internationals, now attend college and university in the United States. Rankin is convinced that the 65 million men and women who comprise the emerging adults group is one of the ripest harvest fields in America. He dissects this emerging culture and offers compelling reasons why we need to reach these folks.

In chapter 8, Dr. Allan Coppedge offers a fitting conclusion to the book. Employing Scripture as well as teaching from early church fathers, Coppedge shows how the Holy Trinity—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—are in loving relationship with one another and therefore our reconciliation with God should be manifested in holiness and love. The author calls us to see that our salvation through the atoning work of Jesus Christ brings us pardon and justification to be sure. But we truncate the truth and efficacy of this great doctrine of the Trinity if we do not recognize that sanctification and love for God and our fellow human beings are more than secondary aspects of our salvation. Dr. Coppedge argues that because God is so great He can enable us to grow in holiness and love for neighbors. Transformed souls that increase in Christ-likeness glorify God and naturally point other people to Him.

It is the hope of the editors and contributors that this volume will at once celebrate our mentor, encourage readers to reach this generation with the gospel, and bring glory to our Lord Jesus Christ.

Chapter One

RESTORE US, O LORD GOD ALMIGHTY—PSALM 80

¹

Walter C. Kaiser Jr.

president emeritus, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary

About a century and a half before the fall of Jerusalem and the resulting Babylonian captivity in 587–536 BC that inevitably followed, there was an Assyrian attack on the capital of the ten northern tribes, viz., on Samaria. This event was the focus of the prayerful lament in Psalm 80. The temple singers belonging to Asaph sang a number of communal laments in Book III of the psalms, namely Psalms 74, 79, 80, 83, and perhaps parts of Psalm 85 and 89.²

The latter two psalms were the focus of our interest in previous studies. Thus, Psalm 85 we treated in the book entitled Revive Us Again: Biblical Principles for Revival Today³ and Psalm 89 marked the poetic treatment of the Davidic covenant found in 2 Samuel 7 and 1 Chronicles 17, which was part of my book The Promise-Plan of God.⁴

But Psalm 80, which had as its title: For the director of music. To the tune of ‘The Lilies of the Covenant.’ Of Asaph. A psalm, (to which the Septuagint added A Psalm concerning the Assyrian) is another important psalm useful for revivals and calling for national repentance. This is the psalm that many scholars believe is a prayerful lament that reveals how deep was the shock that hit Jerusalem and Judah when they learned that the Assyrians had carried away most of the ten northern tribes of Israel and left those sons of Jacob of the remaining two southern tribes (now exposed to new foreign neighbors, who had been imported by the Assyrians according to their conquering policy of mixing the conquered peoples together so there would be little prospect of a revolt against the Assyrian Empire). As such, consequently, this psalm is partially a historical psalm as well as a prayer and a lament. Even though it is not possible to affirm the historic details with certainty, the mere mention in verse 2 of Joseph, another name for the northern tribes, as well as the inclusion of the names of Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh, seem to give some support to this historical reconstruction for the psalm. Despite the various conflicts in the past between the north and the south, those who had suffered defeat and the shame of being exiled were relatives of those left in Judah. The psalm, therefore, exposed a deep wound and hurt that afflicted Judah as it had already caused extreme suffering in northern Israel.

With this as a background, it is time to look at the psalm more directly. Both the repeated refrains in verses 3, 7, 14 (partially broken), and 19 (which suggest the structure for the psalm), and the extended simile of the vine (vv. 8–16), make this psalm a memorable lament. As such, the strophical division of this psalm is marked by the refrain that is repeated in verses 3, 7, 14 (partially), and 19 (or in Hebrew numbering of the verses 4, 8, 15, and 20).

God Is Asked to Cause His Face to Shine upon Us—80:1–3

God had in the past shown as much love to northern Israel’s ten tribes as He had shown to the two southern tribes, but His judgment was focused on Israel. Apparently, the tribes of northern Israel had been the first ones to fill up the cup of their iniquity (Gen. 15:16), thus their judgment came more than 135 years prior to God’s later dealing with Judah. It is for the former reason that sorrow and sighing continued to permeate so many of the psalms in Book III.

But God still cared for northern Israel, for He is addressed here under three Hebrew participial phrases. He is called Shepherd of Israel, The Leader [or Guide] of Joseph, and You who sit enthroned between the cherubim (v. 1). This prayer acknowledges that there is only One who can live up to this title of Shepherd; that is the Lord Himself, or His Son who is One with Him (Ezek. 34:11; John 10:11). In fact, our Lord was called the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel as far back as in the blessing of Jacob (Gen. 49:24).

But He also was the One who was the Leader of Joseph. He was the One who led Joseph like a flock of sheep from the land of Egypt all through the wilderness to the land of Canaan (Ps. 74:1; 107:41). He also was the One who was in the cloud that overshadowed the mercy seat and the ark of the covenant as He sat enthroned on the seat formed by two cherubim in the most holy place of the tabernacle and temple (Ps. 22:3). Certainly all three of these titles stress the fact that God was actively involved in Israel’s past, present, and He would also be involved in their future. The three Rachel tribes (Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh; see Ps. 80:2; cf. Gen. 46:19–20) as they appeared in the order of march through the wilderness are specially mentioned. They were in the vanguard of the whole procession; they came right behind the Kohathites, who carried the ark of the covenant, which made it appropriate to mention them right at this point in the psalm after the glorious presence of the One sitting enthroned on the cherubim. Therefore, these three tribes also represented all Israel and Judah. God’s presence could not be denied, for He still remained a central part of their awareness in the cloud that inhabited the Holy of Holies by day, which became a pillar of fire by night, and was one that must have lit up the whole camp and its surroundings. But since two of these tribes (Ephraim and Manasseh) ceased to exist long before Judah got her comeuppance, this was another sign that the historical background had to be the Assyrian attack on Samaria and not the later attack of Nebuchadnezzar on Jerusalem.

Now, however, it appeared to some that God had abandoned northern Israel and that His help was no longer forthcoming despite His visible presence at the temple in Jerusalem. That is why a prayer arose from Asaph and those with him for God to Awaken [His] might [and to] come and save [them] (v. 2). O that God would stir Himself (or in the modern idiom, flex His muscles) and begin to act in their rescue and deliverance. If He